Arizona Republic nails Kirkpatrick ad as completely FALSE

The ad, which attempted to link Jonathan Paton to the Democrat-controlled Rio Nuevo Board in Tucson that wasted $230 million taxpayer dollars, was rated completely FALSE.

The Fact Check was written by Rob O’Dell, whose award-winning investigations into Rio Nuevo sparked the reform effort that was actually led by Jonathan Paton. Rob O’Dell knows what he’s talking about – Ann Kirkpatrick obviously does not.

Check out the Bottom Line below:

Bottom line: Paton did serve on the Rio Nuevo Board, but was not on the board during the time it spent more than $200 million trying to revitalize Tucson’s downtown. The board is under investigation by the FBI and the Arizona Attorney General, but they are investigating activities that occurred before Paton joined the board. It is the civil lawsuits that could cost $72 million, not the investigation. Paton was on the board when it filed the lawsuits against Tucson that could theoretically cost city taxpayers $72 million, but the board claims it is trying to recoup money and land that rightly belong to state taxpayers.